Largest amount of microplastics found on ocean floor

Our researchers have helped record the highest level of microplastics ever found on the ocean floor - with up to 1.9 million pieces in an area of just one square metre. The discovery highlights the problem of plastic pollution in our seas, 99 per cent of which lies beneath the waves. Working as part of an international team the researchers have shown how deep-sea currents act as conveyor belts, transporting tiny plastic fragments and fibres across the seafloor. Microplastic hotspots The research provides the first direct link between the behaviour of these currents and the concentrations of seafloor plastics - dubbed 'microplastic hotspots'. These hotspots appear to be the deep-sea equivalents of the so-called 'garbage patches' of plastic waste formed by currents on the ocean surface. Over 10 million tonnes of plastic waste enters our oceans each year. Microplastics on the seafloor are largely made up of fibres from textiles and clothing that are not effectively filtered out in domestic waste water treatment plants and easily enter rivers and oceans.